The sound of pain,
The sound of suffering,
Did not constitute communication in any real sense;
Your automatic overflow of emotional energy
Thus remained unheard.

And you accused me of being inhuman
While I was wondering — without using words
Were you a human?

Meek

I still believe she was meek —
As her satisfaction our first night
Became her embarrassment the next day.

And I refuse to believe that
She was feigning sleep
Only to avoid my arms.

Guys, laugh at me!

I came to know that her cheeks flushed red
And her skirt rode up
While making love with my brother
While I was away.

However, she was meek again on my return
And whenever my hands fumbled she blushed a lot.

Lovers
Blessed with a huge slice of luck
Are those who can make love
Under pale moonlight
While their bodies move under a leafy tree
And when the wind blows
All the leaves arrange just so
To give a standing ovation
For their perfect union.
They bend and sway --
Backward and forward --
Performing repetitively
So that the stereotype
Yet looks novel:
rocking and swaying
sucking and teeth grinding
twisting and twirling <<>> scratching and pinching
head banging and head shaking
Making love
Undisturbed.

Tears

There was more pleasure, more delight
When blood rushed through my veins like a wild current;
I breathed your love in my flesh
In every ember of my desire

Till at last you bid adieu
And suddenly nothing was left.
Your love evaporated, the stream was dry,
I became dead meat
With a blank screen and madness galore.

Truth is alone, but don’t let it be vulnerable.
Lie enjoys a crowd; slips into something comfortable.

Truth and lie can’t go together into a longer life,
Better be single than to take an unfaithful wife.

Be truthful always, make truth your counsellor;
Far drums sound sweet, but lies turn out to be betrayers.

Day was done

A dog barked
And another dog barked in the distance.
Then another —
Ruff, arf, au au, bow-wow —
More dogs responded to the chorus,
A cacophony of sounds soon echoed.

He also barked at me
But others remained silent,
Considering it typical male-female stuff.
Why interfere.
All became a mixture of male —
All very male: both female and male.

Barking stopped one by one,
The work-man-ship finished one by one,
The day was done; the sun was set
And other noises prevailed.

Lily of the valley

It stood under a tree
As if a little child were sleeping
In an old but protected lap
When I beheld it;
An early breeze conspired too
Drooping under the grassy attire
Of its bearer.
Little lily of the valley!

Parting

It is a good thing we have parted —
One road
Opposite directions
Cannot reach a destination.

And you left me midway;
Nothing novel, I too will leave
One day
This home
Beyond the grave.

Book Reading

When I open a book and read
Words do not come to me easily.
First, they break into morphemes
and then into syllables.
Then the whiteness of the page disappears
And blackness comes into being.
With a gradual play of black and white
Comes knowledge and meaning.